1960s

The One Year Later Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast special is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

It has been one year since Don Draper offered to buy the world a Coke, one year since the end of Mad Men, and most importantly, one year since the end of Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast. What have Arlo (yeah, he goes by Arlo now), Kenn, and Joe been up to since last you heard from them? What do we think of Don’s final epiphany, a year removed from the hype surrounding it? How do the first and last episodes of the show compare? Plus, don’t miss a very special Hamm Watch!

The final episode of Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Grab your most cherished JC Penney bag, down a case of cheap beer, and try to be open to the final episode of Smoke Gets in Your Ears. For the last time, AJ, Kenn, and Joe set their sights on our favorite Madison Avenue advertising executives and all their assorted hopes and dreams. In discussing the Mad Men series finale “Person to Person,” the boys talk about everyone’s attempts to break the cycle, the ever-present theme of renewal, and whether or not Dick Whitman’s final epiphany is a cynical one. It’s been a long ride; hopefully, we found our waitress. Thank you for listening. Plus, don’t miss the series finale of Hamm Watch!

Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast episode 41 is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

For the penultimate installment of Smoke Gets in Your Ears, AJ, Kenn, and Joe take “The Milk and Honey Route,” on which our characters begin to find themselves. Pete takes a job interview and gets more than he expected. Betty goes to class and learns more than she bargained for. Don stops in Kansas and gets to teach a lesson. It’s as if, with only one episode left, the confused and frustrated citizens of Mad Men are inching nearer and nearer to something like self-acceptance. It’s about time. Plus, don’t miss another exciting installment of Hamm Watch!

Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast episode 40 is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

In the pre-penultimate (?) episode of Mad Men, “Lost Horizon,” Don takes a ride, Peggy rollerskates to Roger’s organ accompaniment, and Joan attempts to burn it all down. AJ, Kenn, and Joe discuss the SC&P gang’s anonymity at McCann, whether or not we’ve seen certain of our characters take their curtain calls, and just where the hell Don thinks he’s going. Plus, don’t miss another exciting installment of Hamm Watch!

Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Like “Shut the Door. Have a Seat” and “For Immediate Release” before it, “Time & Life” signals a time of great change in the lives of the Sterling Cooper gang. Can Don and the others pull off yet another gambit to save the agency? Why does this feel so familiar and yet so different? AJ, Kenn, and Joe explore these questions and what they mean at this point in the show’s life. Meanwhile, Peggy and Stan have a heart-to-heart, and Pete deals with a weird old money blood feud. Plus, don’t miss another exciting installment of Hamm Watch!

Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

What does the future hold? Where does Don Draper see himself going? Where does Mad Men see itself going? These questions and more are speculated upon in this week’s Smoke Gets in Your Ears as AJ, Kenn, and Joe discuss “The Forecast.” Glen stops by the Francis manse, Mathis is in dire need of a bar of soap, Don oozes, and the gang analyzes the average viewer’s response to the season. One thing’s for certain: this was a much, much better episode than last week’s. Plus, don’t miss another exciting installment of Hamm Watch!

Smoke Gets in Your Ears: A Mad Men Podcast episode 37 is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

It’s finally happened. Matthew Weiner & Co. have finally turned in an episode of Mad Men which AJ, Kenn, and Joe simply don’t like. Well, not simply; this show never does anything simply. There are good things in “New Business,” which is mostly about old business, including a parade of Don’s past lovers and the return of Megan. It’s the new business itself, Don’s dalliance with waitress Diana, which proves more of a problem. The gang discusses whether this is the show just spinning its wheels, trying something new, or building to something greater. Plus, don’t miss another exciting installment of Hamm Watch!